Geneva Show 2012 Highlights: ItalDesign Brivido Concept

Volkswagen Group-owned ItalDesign Giugiaro is outlining its vision for a luxurious four-seat sporting GT with eco credentials at today’s Geneva motor show. The near 5.0m-long ItalDesign Brivido is a working prototype that uses VW Group running gear and shows off the design capabilities of the famous Italian design studio that VW took control of in 2010.

Giorgetto Giugiaro, the director of the studio that bears his name, said the Brivido is designed to “allow people to dream and imagine the future”.

Giugiaro, who designed the original Volkswagen Golf and Scirocco, added, “This is an exercise to show a vehicle that delivers awesome sports car performance in an eco-friendly manner, to show great technological content and, above all, superb comfort.”

The Brivido’s drivetrain mates a 355bhp/339lb ft 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine with an electric motor and eight-speed automatic transmission. The rear-wheel-drive concept boasts a top speed of 171mph and 0-62mph performance of 5.8sec, as well as CO2 emissions of 154g/km.

The Brivido — meaning ‘thrill’ in Italian — is 4980mm long, 1960mm wide and 1298mm high and has a wheelbase of 2910mm. The sleek coupé’s most dramatic feature is a pair of gullwing doors, which offer cabin access for both front and rear passengers. Giugiaro says the gullwing doors are the only real ‘concept car’ feature and that otherwise the car is a viable production model.

Extensive use of glass is used to form a ‘glass dome’, which boosts visibility. Giugiaro says this is usually sacrificed in luxury GTs, particularly for rear passengers. The extra glass in the doors also acts as a structural element and aids parking because the driver can see the pavement.

“It’s a true four-seat sportscar with comfort even for the people in the back,” said Giorgetto Giugiaro. “You can see out much more that you can in a conventional coupé.”

Other notable styling features include LED light clusters that extend 2600mm back from the front of the bonnet, cameras in place of side mirrors that display images on top of the steering column, stylish 21-inch alloy wheels and extensive use of carbonfibre at the front and rear of the car. The interior was developed in conjunction with the Volkswagen Group Electronics Research Lab in California.

It includes a docking station for an iPad that can be completely stowed in the centre console, and two LCD screens that display all of the car’s essential functions.